Occupant-propelled wheelchair



OCCUPANT-PROPELLED WHEELCHAIR Filed Sept. 13. 1965 INVENTOR DONALDBULMER a. AQ.

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,399,110 GCCUPANT-PRGPELLED WHEELCHAIRDonald L. Buhner, Westminster, Calif.

(5052 50i) Ave. E., Gal: Harbor, Wash. 98277) Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser.No. 487,097 Claims. (Cl. 280-242) The invention described herein may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposeswithout the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to wheelchairs and in particular to a drivingmechanism which can be operated by the occupants of such chairs.Specifically the driving mechanism involves the use of a unique linkagearrangement whereby the occupant of the wheelchair can propel himself byapplying a force in a direction opposite to the direction of travel.

In the past wheelchair drive arrangements have been used to provide thepatient with a means of propelling himself without gripping the wheel orits rirn. Such systems included an actuating lever pivotally mountedupon the axle coacting with a drive dog arrangement. By gripping theactuating lever and applying force thereto, a patient could propelhimself. To the incapacited patient incapable of reaching for theactuating lever, incapable of applying a gripping force to the lever, orboth, this simple lever system was useless. This invention overcomesthese difficulties by means of a linkage arrangements.

The object of this invention is to provide a linkage arrangement whichtranslates a horizontal force applied by a patient into a force upon thewheel of a wheelchair in order to propel the wheelchair.

Another object is to provide 4an arrangement which allows anincapacitated person to propel a wheelchair in any direction by applyinga horizontal force to a linkage connected to a drive bar.

Other objects will become apparent upon reading the specification andupon reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. l shows one embodiment of the linkage arrangement for the drivemechanism, and the effect of activating the drive mechanism; and

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the linkage arrangement.

In order to propel himself in a forward direction the occupant applies aforce to a propelling bar 1 in a rearward direction as shown in FIG. 1.As the force is applied toward the occupant of the wheelchair the centerpin 2 attached to the horizontal member 4 is forced in a generallydownward direction along an elongated aperture 5 located along thelongitudinal axis of the drive bar member 6. This downward forcetransmitted to the drive bar member 6 causes a reversible drive dog 7mounted upon the drive bar member 6, to drive the wheel and chair in aforward direction.

The structure of this propelling linkage involves a propelling bar 1rigidly attached to a horizontal member 4. The horizontal member 4 ispivotally mounted upon any appropriate support structure of thewheelchair. For example, this horizontal member 4 could be pivotallymounted upon the wheelchair leg 9 or upon the upright support structurefor the wheelchair foot rest 10. A center pin 2 is mounted upon thehorizontal member 4. A drive 'bar member 6 having an elongated slot 5along its longitudinal axis is pivotally mounted upon the wheelchairaxle as shown at point 11 of FIG. l. A reversible drive dog 7 ispivotally mounted upon the drive bar member 6 at an appropriate positionas to come into contact with the wheel of the chair.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment. A sliding clamp arrangement can be usedin lieu of the center pin and elongated aperture combination. In thisarrangement a sliding clamp 12 mounted upon the horizontal member 4 iceengages the drive bar member 6 thereby allowing the drive bar member toslide within the confines of the clamp. The elongated slot 5 is notnecessary in this arrangement.

Quite often the occupant of the wheelchair cannot iirmly grasp thepropelling bar 1 to transmit a rearward pulling force, which istranslated into -a forward force on the wheels. A Y-member 13 attachedto the upper end of the propelling bar 1 allows the patient to impose arearward pulling force upon the propelling bar by placing his wristbetween the cradle of the Y-member. With this arrangement the patientneed not have to grasp the propelling bar. In order to afford thepatient more comfort in using the Y-member arrangement and also toimprove the adhesive characteristics of the Y-member, handle grips 14are placed about the ears of the Y-member.

This propelling arrangement also uses reversible dogs 7. This allows thepatient to cause either a rearward motion or forward motion to thewheels. Thus this invention allows the occupant of a wheelchair topropel himself about freely in all directions with a minimum amount ofmanual effort.

Both embodiments afford the patient the capability of maneuvering thechair in all directions. To move backward the patient applies a forwardpushing force to the propelling bar 1. The linkage arrangement thenwould react to engage the drive dog against the wheel as to transmit arearward force against the wheel. By providing this linkage arrangementfor both wheels, and by selectively varying the force applied to thepropelling bar the patient now has the capability of total mobility inall directions.

I claim:

1. A device to be mounted upon the axle and support structure of awheelchair allowing an incapacitated person to apply force to the wheelof a wheelchair comprising:

(a) a horizontal member mounted upon the wheelchair support structure;

(b) a center pin mounted upon the horizontal member;

(c) a propelling bar attached to the horizontal member to which theincapacitated person applies a force;

(d) a drive bar member having an elongated aperture along itslongitudinal axis for engaging said center pin and allowing said centerpin to travel generally downward, and having a pivotal mounting apertureat its lower end for mounting the drive bar member upon the axle of thewheelchair; and

(e) a reversible dog mounted upon said drive bar member and coming intocontact with the wheel of the chair to transmit the applied force to thewheel.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 further comprising a Y-memberattached to the end of said propelling bar to allow the incapacitatedperson to apply a force to the propelling bar without gripping saidpropelling bar.

3. A device to be mounted upon the axle and support structure of awheelchair allowing an incapacitated person to apply force to the wheelof a wheelchair comprising:

(a) a horizontal member having means for pivotally mounting said mernberto the support structure of the wheelchair;

(b) adrive bar member having means for pivotally mounting said drive barmember to the axle of the wheelchair;

(c) means for engaging said drive bar member, mounted upon saidhorizontal member to transmit a force upon said drive bar member;

(d) means for transmitting a force from said drive bar member to thewheel of the chair, mounted upon said' drive bar member; and

(e) a propelling bar connected to the horizontal member upon which 'anincapacitated person :applies a force.

ypropelling bar without gripping said propelling bar.

4. yThe device as described in claim 3 wherein the means ReferencesCited by the Examiner for engaging said drive bar member comprises aclamp UNITED STATES PATENTS mounted upon the horizontal member to allowthe drive n bar member to slide within said clamp. 2,130,426 9/1938Henderson ZOO-244 k5. The device as set forth in claim 3 furthercomprising 5 2,643,898 6/1953 Everest et al ef 28o-240 a Y-memberattached to the end of said propelling bar to 3,189,368 6/1965 Petersen28o-242 allow the incapacitated person to apply a force to the KENNETHH' BETTS, Primary Examner

1. A DEVICE TO BE MOUNTED UPON THE AXLE AND SUPPORT STRUCTURE OF AWHEELCHAIR ALLOWING AN INCAPACITATED PERSON TO APPLY FORCE TO THE WHEELOF A WHEELCHAIR COMPRISING: (A) A HORIZONTAL MEMBER MOUNTED UPON THEWHEELCHAIR SUPPORT STRUCTURE; (B) A CENTER PIN MOUNTED UPON THEHORIZONTAL MEMBER; (C) A PROPELLING BAR ATTACHED TO THE HORIZONTALMEMBER TO WHICH THE INCAPACITATED PERSON APPLIES A FORCE; (D) A DRIVEBAR MEMBER HAVING AN ELONGATED APERTURE